Savoring Life's Sweet & Sour Moments

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How is everyone’s week going?? Mine is fantastic! Today is the first day of spring and international day of happiness! I am so glad to see spring, which will hopefully come with warmer weather, and I was even more excited when I learned that today was dedicated to being happy. On the website, they talk about the importance of focusing on happiness and well being than craving/searching for material possessions. I couldn’t think of a better way to uplift the human spirit and remind everyone AROUND THE WORLD that despite our circumstances, things could be a lot worse. For those unfortunate people who are in horrible situations, emotionally or physically imprisioned by their government or life’s problems, I pray that you soon find peace and hope. Don’t give up!

Anywho…on to the recipe part of the post. This is one of my favorite fish recipes. I think I found it on the ever popular Skinny Taste, but I’ve been cooking it for so many years that I honestly can’t even remember. This recipe is so super easy it’s disgusting. It’s very light and for all of the food/meal preppers out there, it’s even good two days later. One of my coworkers and a friend of mine is giving up meat (red meat, pork, even chicken) for Lent as well as millions of others who practice the Catholic fate, so this is a quick recipe that you can enjoy.

Pan Seared Tilapia in a Spicy Tomato Sauce

Ingredients

Olive Oil

5 Tilapia filets

One small onion, chopped

4 cloves of garlic (i happen to love garlic, so you can use less if you like)

Add the onion and garlic to a medium to large skillet and cook on medium heat until the onions are soft and translucent. Add the fresh tomatoes, canned tomatoes and spices and cook for another 5 minutes until the fresh veggies have started to soften.

Place the tilapia into the skillet on top of the tomato, making a little bed or section for the fish. Salt and pepper the top of the fish and then spoon a little bit of the tomatoes on top of the tomato, but don’t cover completely.

COVER and cook the tilapia for another 15-17 minutes until the tilapia is firm, but flaky.

This may be my longest hiatus ever. Pretty sure I haven’t blogged in about a year. In my last post, I talked about some of the things that I was working on, had been up to, etc. All of which are pretty true, but that’s not the true reason why I stopped blogging.

I took a step back and assessed what I had blogged about since starting this little online journal in 2011. Let’s be (Lisa) frank shall we? This ish was depressing. I was just constantly complaining about my sad little life. Was it rough? Absolutely. But why did I feel the need to talk about it in 800+ words. #firstworldproblems

The last few months, I’ve been able to really evaluate the last six years of life. Why six years? Because that’s how long it’s been since I graduated from OU. Good Jesus. Time is flying by right? My point exactly. I needed to start living and stop dwelling in my own misery. I’m all about being transparent. Heaven knows I can’t stand it when these bloggers document their lives like they are the star of their own series on E!. That is so annoying. However, maybe I went a tad bit too extreme in the opposite direction.

I’m not going to take those posts down. No, I think it’s important that you see every side of me, peaks and valleys. But we won’t be going back to Debbie Downer Land, not even on a short road trip.

Back to our regularly scheduled blog posts all about things that make me happy. This list has changed a little bit since I first started, but hey, that was three years ago right? People can change.

With that said, Welcome back to Vicky D’s Delights where I eat, drink and live through all of life’s sweet and sour moments. Let’s hope it’s more of the former.

Happy Valentine’s Day, Martin Luther King Day, Presidents Day, Employee Appreciation Day and every other holiday that has passed since my last post on New Years Day! Phew. I could say that I’ve been busy, but that’s really not the entire case. Time has just literally flown by. One day it was January, and before I knew it, spring was here. That ish cray.

The truth – I spend all day on social media platforms, blog post, etc. AND I have to monitor my work platforms in the evening that I like a break from my personal blog. Is that sad? No. (Although i’m wondering if I just shot myself in the professional foot.) Does it mean I don’t love what I do? Absolutely not. I enjoy it every day. But I don’t want to burn out; I want to enjoy life, so I’m trying to set up boundaries. Surely, someone understand where I’m coming from….anyone?

Annnnddd….if you didn’t notice from my despondent posts the latter months of 2012, I was in sort of low moment. I thought it would be best for me to figure things out and take a break from broadcasting my life, so that everyone wouldn’t run away screaming. I’m sure you’ve missed me a little since I’ve been gone.

I do have lots of post to share with you all. I’ve been eating clean and trying to save money lately, which results in lots of cooking and lots of tasting. Yum, yum, yum!

I’m currently working on a few “projects,” and I look forward to sharing those with you too!

In the meantime, have a fantastic weekend! If you’re in to celebrating St. Patty’s Day, enjoy your Saturday full of green debauchery. Dallas has a HUGE party. I participated one time. It was fun and then miserable. Apparently, I ain’t about that life. Ha! Happy Friday!

Ta ta for now!

Vicky D

P.S. Special prize for the person who can name the rap songs I used lyrics from above. haha!

Hope everyone had a lovely holiday with full of memories with family and friends. How was your Christmas? Mine was okay. I was only off on Christmas Day and today, but I am thankful to have a job so I won’t complain.

The Sunday before Christmas I stupidly went to the Galleria to return a few presents that I bought. Yes, return presents. I may have gotten a little crazy while shopping and the way my bank account is set up…

Moving forward, I went to the Galleria AND North Park to return a few items before meeting up with my friend Jordan in Oak Cliff at Historic Texas Theatre to watch “A Christmas Story.” Now, if any of you are from Dallas and never ventured to certain parts of Oak Cliff, you are really missing out. Yes, they are some scary parts, but other neighborhoods are historic, beautiful and a must see. The Texas Historic Theater is one of those places.

“A Christmas Story” is apparently a holiday classic about a little boy named Ralphie who wants a BB Gun for Christmas. I say apparently because I’ve never seen or heard of this movie prior to this day. I know. Sad, Vicky D. Very sad.

You know me though, I am down for anything new and out of the ordinary.

The movie was hilarious and indeed a classic. I actually remember seeing the famous leg lamp on Pinterest one day. It made sense after seeing the movie. One random note—Ralphie, played by Peter Billingsley, is actually a well-known producer today, directing movie including one of my faves “Four Christmases.” (MISTLETOE!!!)

Historic Texas Theatre is remarkable, vintage and a beautiful addition to our city. It’s truly remarkable to see that locations like this still exist. Oak Cliff is very old part of Dallas. Slowly, but surely the area is starting to be revitalized through restaurants, boutiques and frankly, the removal of fear from Dallasites who used to think the area was only full of crime and gangs. Oak Cliff is beautiful.

I am so excited that I had the experience, and I can’t wait for my next experience! Talk to you later,

Since the day after Thanksgiving, my Pandora has been stuck on Christmas stations. Yep, you read that right. There is more than one station. This photo doesn’t even include all of them. LOL

I am obsessed with Christmas music. It’s not even abnormal to hear me humming/singing a Christmas carol any time of the year. I’m sure that annoys people around me, especially those Scrooges/Grinches of the world, but I frankly don’t care. These songs make my heart happy. They bring sweetness to my spirit.

So, here are a few of my favorite songs, albums and just overall holiday delights:

Favorite Holiday Commercials:

Ok, so I’m not going to lie. I have several faves in this category, which is fine because it’s my list. hehe!

Walmart Carol of the Bells-Not even lying to you when I say that when i first saw this, I shed a tear. Why? Because I feel like it actually humanized a big-box brand. The commercial concluded with saying that there were going to be more registers open during the holiday season to accommodate a projected increase in traffic, but made you feel not only you mattered to Wal-Mart. When does that ever happen? Advertising at its finest.

Hershey’s Kisses-each year I sear this commecial, I know the holidays have arrived! As a former musician, I can appreciate the effort it takes these little Hershey’s kisses to achieve this song. The best part is the little kiss at the end with the big solo!

Target India Arie w/Stevie Wonder-Again, this is just a beautiful commercial. Steve Wonder and India are such talented individuals. There are actually from the 2002 Holiday campaign. In my opinion, it’s one of the best ones Target has done.

Favorite Holiday Songs:

Simply having a wonderful Christmas Time by The Beatles–this song is kind of cheeky and cute, but always make me happy! I worked at Old Navy when I was like 16-18 years old, and it came on like every 10 minutes. Still love it though.

Oh holy night–love this song, but Kelly Clarkson and Christina Aguilera sing two of the best renditions!

Favorite Holiday Albums:

All of these albums I originally heard on Pandora, but after hearing nearly every track, I decided to contribute to these artists’ income and buy the album. No illegal downloads for me. hehe! These albums can be purchased on iTunes or Amazon as well!

My Kind of Christmas by Christina Aguilera

Merry Christmas by Mariah Carey

Glee Cast Holiday

8 Days of Christmas by Destiny’s Child

My absolute favorite this holiday season is…Straight No Chaser.

First of all, I love the name. Second of all, they have real talent! Straight No Chaser is a professional a cappella group. The group itself was founded in 1996 in Indiana University in Bloomington. (Go Hoosiers!) Ten guys got together and decided to bust a tune. Of course, like most artists these days, they were found on YouTube….

Fifteen million views later, they have a record deal with Atlantic Records and the rest is music history.

Now, I know what you’re thinking, isn’t a cappella the big deal these days. True, but I personally never watched one episode of Glee. I did however see Pitch Perfect, which was hilariously wonderful. I intend on purchasing the DVD.

Every time one of SNC songs comes on, it just makes my day. Their harmonies are just that, harmonious. I think Pandora has played nearly all of the tracks from their holiday album. I love every song.

Don’t take my word for it though, go to iTunes yourself and check out the little samples.

All of these songs and holiday items really do make the season bright.

Happy Singing!

Did I miss any good ones? What are your favorite Christmas tunes? Do you annoy people with Christmas Pandora?

Happy Friday Everyone! This week has absolutely flown by! Guess the world isn’t coming to an end after all. I never believed that Oscar Mayer bologna anyways. But I do like the idea of people “getting their lives” together to prepare for that. Whatever. Either way, it didn’t happen. If you ask me, I stick to my original hypothesis, the Mayans simply ran out of stone/paper. lol

Can I just say that I am feeling better already after the last few posts. I know it got a little bit somber for a while now, but I am on the path to a new me. I’m excited about this progression too.

Yesterday, I went to lunch with one of my PR mentors to Meso Maya. Now, you know me, there’s a story to everything I do.

A few weeks ago, a NEW Meso Maya opened in the Downtown Dallas/Uptown area. It’s located right next to El Fenix, a HUGE Dallas Tex-Mex staple, which is kind of weird because I don’t think it’s that tasty. Yep, I said it.

Anywho, I read several blog posts about it. These foodies were raving about the new spot closer to Downtown saying it was a little bit better than the original one. Wait, where is the original one, I thought to myself? Well I’ll be, it’s located like 10 minutes from my home/job! I’m all about trying new spots, but I did want to be able to compare the two.

So, when my mentor asked me where I wanted to eat for lunch, I remembered these articles and suggested it. She was all for it!

My mentor and I get together probably every couple of months for lunch and chit chat! She is an absolutely fabulous PR professional with like 20+ years of experience. She always gives me great advice for my career and personal life. We’ve become good friends and colleagues over the past 5 years.

The “old” Meso Maya is located at Preston and Forest in what some may call North Dallas. Dramatic Dallas people. It’s in one of those strips of boutiques, random places and of course Starbucks. Their food is bold, fresh and earthy flavors of authentic interior Mexican cuisine. Yep, stole that right from the menu.

The atmosphere of the restaurant was very pleasant. It was quiet enough so that Tanya and I didn’t have to yell at each other, which apparently is a lot different than the new Uptown Meso Maya.

Since, I’m trying to watch what I eat and I just devoured a whole bunch of chips at Pepe’s & Mitos, I didn’t want to divulge too much in the complimentary appetizer. I wasn’t a fan of the salsa though. It was a little warm (temperature). Hot salsa kind of disgusts me.

Usually, I order a salad at lunch, but I’m not going to lie, lettuce gets old. So, I perused the menu for a somewhat healthier option and came across the Polle con Mole or Chicken with Mole sauce. Yum! I love Mole sauce. The dish was an adobo chicken breast with Oaxcan mole rojo, sweet plantains, same seeds and white rice. i substituted the white rice for sauteed veggies. Is this there anything better than sweet plantain?! YUM, YUM, YUM!

You guys already know that I LOVE food from the Latin countries. My mouth was watering when I ordered and I couldn’t wait to get my food.

I was excited. The food arrived. It was pretty on the plate. I was still excited. I took a bite and the enthusiasm left. Bummer! It was kind of good, but very underseasoned. To make it worse, there was no salt on our table. Weird. I still ate every bite hoping it would get better, and it kind of did, but it still wasn’t amazing. Such a bummer.

Now, I have never complained about food before, but I also don’t like lying to people. So, when server asked me how my food was, I told him the truth. He was very apologetic and hoped I would return to have a better experience. I told him I would, and that’s the truth.

I’m not the kind of foodie that dismisses a restaurant after one bad experience. I understand that chef and prep cooks may have a bad moment. I also know that adding salt to food is often times considered an insult to some chefs/cooks. I also get that too much salt is bad for us and some people have health conditions so restaurants are trying to cut back. All of that considered, I will definitely revisit this Meso Maya again and give it another shot.

Life Lesson #1–Sometimes, things don’t turn out the way we want them to. Our enthusiasm is quickly deflated when the outcome is less than desired. It’s important to have individuals like mentors or close friends who may be a little older who can speak wisdom into our lives. The job we think is going to be the “dream job” could be just that, but may be accompanied by a challenging supervisor making each day difficult. Or the person we are dating could be wonderful, but it may just not work out for whatever reason. We can’t stop working, dating or living when these things occur. I’m so thankful for Tanya who has always encouraged me to keep going when I didn’t want to, reminded me of who I was when I forgot and of course showed me that in the end, I have to trust the Lord.Life Lesson #2-Don’t be afraid to ask for anything or speak up. I’m sure my meal would have been really delicious had I just asked for salt.

Hate to run, but lots of work to do. I’m super excited about my lunch plans for today though! I’ll give you a hint: It involves a holiday buffet (oh boy) at a very famous Downtown Dallas-based luxury retailer. :-)

Vicky D

Questions: Do you have mentors? Do you mind asking for salt at restaurants?

I am in particularly good mood this morning!! Not exactly sure why…hehe! Is it because Christmas is almost here? hmmm..maybe. Is it because I have all of next week off? No, because I only have Christmas Day off next week. Womp Womp! Is it because the weather is warm in Dallas? Nope, it’s all of a sudden freakishly cold here AGAIN.

So, what is it? I’m choosing to be happy! I’ve realized that life really could be A LOT worse than I think. I have so much to be thankful for and frankly complaining is becoming annoying ot everyone around me.

Yesterday, I met up with Clare at Paradise Bakery for a little going away lunch. Clare is one of the first people I met in the blogging world. Ironically, I met her before I even had a blog. She basically commented on another blog that I read (or something like that), and I figured out she was moving from St.Louis to Dallas. I wanted to show her some good ‘ol Dallas hospitality. I hope I achieved that. that was nearly 1.5 years ago. Anywho, Clare has decided to move back home and go back to school. While I will miss her so, I can’t help but be proud of her for leaving her life and family behind to move to a city that she had only flown through. I can’t help but be inspired by the way she handled all of life’s situations with a good attitude. She might not have always been happy, but she always found a way to find the positive aspects of life.

If you read her blog, you will see that transitioning to Dallas and a new phase of life wasn’t an easy process, but she did it. It’s hard to balance everything and everyone. Heck, her blog is called Fitting It All In. I always admired the fact that she was transparent about her life. She entertained her readers (friends), but also educated them and made them think a little bit. I’m going to miss her, but hey, that’s why there are planes, trains and wait, St. Louis is far, so probably no automobiles. hehe!

Life is all about choices. We choose to be sad. We choose to be angry. We choose to be happy. Trust me when I say this is NOT easy to do. In the last 6 months, I have experienced some difficult situations, and it was even more challenging to not fall into a despondent state. It was a constant, daily struggle. I found myself wanting to commiserate over life’s whoas. Stop it, Vicky D. I overcame it. Praise the Lord.

The “Whoa Is Me” complex is really unproductive. I’m over it. I’m too old for it now honestly.

Now, I continue on my original mission, to find the good in all of life’s little delights, like the cookie display at the front entrance of Paradise Bakery near the Galleria. Puts you in the Christmas spirit and includes a complimentary tasty treat.

Or there’s my little friend, Bob, who I bought at the Dollar Store for $4 four years ago. He only comes out during the holidays, but it makes me happy.

Of course, there’s always my favorite delight, FOOD. Yesterday, I ate a BBQ Chopped Chicken Salad and Sonoma Chicken Stew at Paradise. Now, I saw them put cheese in my salad, and I’m 100% sure that my soup had cream in it. Thankfully, I didn’t get sick. There’s nothing better than sharing tasty food with good company. (I didn’t take a pic of Clare because she was sweaty. i knew better.)

I chose to enjoy the sweet and sour moments of life. Granted, I’ve had a lot of sour moments lately, but as someone recently told me, sometimes you have to put up with a whole bunch of sh&^ to get the sweet stuff.

Oh, I almost forgot…my very first article on Dallas Food Nerd was published yesterday! Yaaaay!!! Super excited!!! The Boy and I tried out Pepe’s & Mitos on Saturday night. I originally was going to write a review for this blog, but since I’m a new contributor to DNF, I decided to share the love with them. Go check out my post AND the restaurant!

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Hola Friends! Welcome to to my delightful blog! I'm a 20-something-year-old social media and marketing pro from Dallas, Texas! Beyond my 9-5, I am busy discovering all of the things, big or small, that bring me joy. I spend my days learning more about myself and how to live a lactose-free life! Thanks for stopping by!